My Kind of Girl (2 page)

Darla smiled. “Staying?” she asked,
waving to Traci who was on her way over.

“
Sure. I mean … it’s only
an hour and a half. No point in leaving and possibly getting stuck
in traffic or something. Then you’d be stranded here by yourself
waiting for me.”

“
Of course, son,” Darla
replied, standing as Traci approached and gave her a warm hug.
“Hello, dear.”

Sean inhaled a pleasant, light rose
scent when Traci turned into his direction, running her fingers
along one of the flower pots as if she was trying not to make eye
contact with him.

Was she checking me out on
the sly?

“
Traci, this is my son,
Sean. He’s going to join us today,” Darla introduced, before
walking toward Mrs. Carson in the front of the room.

Traci placed her cocoa eyes on his
face as her dimples emerged. “Welcome, Sean. So glad you’re going
to participate. Are you into gardening like your
mother?”

“
Nope, I’m not much of a
gardener, but my mom has four orchids to repot so I figured I’d
stay and help.”

“
Awesome,” Traci said,
flashing a sincere smile that lit up the room and warmed his heart.
“Let me know if you need any assistance. We’re going to begin in a
few minutes. Grab an apron and some gardening gloves from the bin
in the back. Things may get a little dirty.”

He caught a gleam in her eyes as he
stood and stepped into her personal space, noting a slight change
in her breathing. He lowered his voice so the ladies nearby
wouldn’t overhear.

“
Nothing wrong with getting
a little dirty.”

*****

Traci rushed into her office, closed
the door, and leaned on it for support as she exhaled a long sigh
of relief. She didn’t know how she’d made it through the orchid
repotting workshop without completely stumbling over her words.
However, she remained cool and composed on the outside while she
was flustered and overwhelmed on the inside. Dr. Sean Arrington—in
all of his jaw-dropping, dark-chocolate gorgeousness—had sat in the
back of her workshop repotting an orchid while she could barely
concentrate.

Traci had known Dr. Darla Arrington
for almost three years since she’d became her primary care
physician before retiring last year. Upon learning Traci worked at
the Botanical Gardens, Dr. Darla began taking her classes and
eventually hired Traci to design the gardens at the Arrington
estate. During that time, she’d met the daughters Shelbi, Raven,
and Bria, with Raven becoming her gynecologist last year, but she’d
never met Sean in person. She’d seen numerous pictures of him at
the Arrington estate or on Dr. Darla’s cell phone as she showed off
pictures of her beautiful, intelligent children. All doctors, they
worked at the family practice that their parents had started with
the exception of the youngest, Shelbi, who was currently doing her
residency at a local hospital. The parents had retired and the
practice was ran by the oldest siblings; the twins, Cannon, a
pediatrician, and Raven, an Ob/Gyn. Bria was an allergist who also
specialized in holistic medicine.

Then there was Sean. Tall. Suave.
Charismatic. His pictures certainly didn’t capture his true
essence. He was more appealing and dominating in person than she
could’ve ever imagined. With skin smooth as butter and a
well-defined, chiseled physique, Traci had the hardest time keeping
her voice steady and her eyes away from his delectable face. A face
she wanted to run her hand down, followed by her tongue to sample
to see if his chocolate skin was indeed mouth-watering sweet. Of
course she’d have to stand on her tippy toes or even in a chair to
reach Sean’s luscious lips. When he’d smiled at her after she had
showed him how to carefully take the orchid from the pot, the heat
from his stare nearly melted her to a puddle at his
feet.

Traci couldn’t believe her thoughts,
but she’d always looked forward to Dr. Darla’s picture show just to
see Sean. His mother spoke highly of her children, husband, and
grandchildren. Sean seemed to be his mother’s favorite for he was
somewhat of a wild card but had the same determination and ambition
as his siblings. His mother had described him as the middle child
that got away with everything but was always the first one she
could depend on no matter what.

Glancing at the clock,
Traci knew she needed to head to the lab to finish a project, but
instead she slammed into her desk chair and breathed in to calm her
nerves. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
It’s
not like I’m going to ever see him again.
He only came because his mom was having car trouble. She’d
visited the medical practice over ten times and had never met Sean
in person, so the chance of seeing him again was rare.

A light knock at the door
interrupted her train of thought which she was
grateful
. Time to get back to my day and
stop focusing on a man that has barely given me a second
thought.
Besides, she knew his type.
Playboy. Love ‘‘em and leave ‘‘em. She’d been there before and was
so over it.

“
Come in,” she yelled out.
She had a few minutes to spare, and more than likely it was her
co-worker and best friend since college, Caitlyn Clarke, probably
coming to ask who was the fine specimen she had spotted when she’d
peeked into the workshop earlier. She’d done a double take and
almost spilled her coffee.

Traci reached for the paperwork she
needed to go over with Caitlyn.

The door swung open and the knot in
Traci’s throat from earlier returned when Sean breezed into her
office as if it was a natural task he did every day. His confidence
level was off the chart, and he seemed to be comfortable in
whatever situation he was placed in. She’d noticed that earlier
during the class.

“
Hey, Traci.”

“
Hi, surprised to see you.
Is everything okay?” she managed to say in a professional tone even
though the butterflies in her stomach were having a break dance
contest.

“
Yeah. Mom decided to have
lunch with Mrs. Carson. I just had a quick question.”

“
Oh sure. What can I do for
you?”

A sexy smile inched up his chiseled
face and she held back a gulp

“
I know you designed the
gardens at my parents’ home. I recently bought a new house, but the
backyard is … um … well, just green grass. I spend a lot of time
outside relaxing on the veranda after a long day of dealing with
patients, but I have nothing exquisite to look at. Think maybe you
can hook it up like you did for my mother?”

Traci was still in such shock from him
standing in her office that she’d barely heard what he’d asked.
Nodding her head, she pretended as if she’d comprehended the words.
When she replayed them, she was able to answer him.

“
Well … I honestly didn’t
do it all alone. I have a crew I work with depending upon what you
request, and your mother helped. She’s very hands on.”

“
Sooooo you want me to be
hands on, too?” Sean stepped closer to her desk while resting a
smoldering gaze on her face that she knew had to have turned
scarlet for her cheeks were burning.

Traci was thankful she was seated so
that he wouldn’t notice her squirm, or the crossing and uncrossing
of her legs. She was at a sudden loss of words. She couldn’t place
whether or not he was spewing sexual innuendos because he was so
serious in his tone and expression. Perhaps it was just wishful
thinking on her part because she’d had a crush on him since Dr.
Darla had shown her his picture a few years ago.

“
Not necessarily. It just
depends on the client and their schedule. Your mother was
semi-retired, so it was easy for her. Plus, she loves gardening.
I’m convinced if she wasn’t a doctor she’d be a master
gardener.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, it’s my
mom’s hobby, but for me I just want something peaceful to gaze at
after a long day of work. Can you do that for me? My mom said you
have a busy schedule, but I’d love for you to design and landscape
my yard.”

She honestly didn’t have time, but for
some reason she couldn’t say no to him. Not only that, but she
needed the extra money.

“
Then I’m your
girl.”

Sean raised an eyebrow as his
smoldering gaze reappeared, and the words she’d just stated
replayed in her brain. Traci could sense a sexual innuendo running
rampant in his head that would have her questioning whether or not
saying yes was such a great idea. She decided to speak first before
whatever was on the tip of his tongue came out and left her even
more flustered than she already was.

“
When would you like to
begin?” she asked, taking out her iPad to look at her
schedule.

An arrogant, sexy smile lined his
rivetingly handsome face. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Chapter
Two

Strolling out of the kitchen toting
two bottled waters, Sean headed toward the front door of his
ranch-styled home. Traci was on time for their Sunday afternoon
appointment as she’d rang the doorbell a few seconds before. He
swung open the door and was elated to see the cute, little beauty
in front of him wearing black-rimmed glasses. He hadn’t been aware
she wore glasses, but they gave her a sexy nerdy look. She sort of
reminded him of an African-American Felicity Smoak from the Arrow
comics. Her hair was in soft curls around her shoulders and pulled
away from her face with a black headband. She wore a lavender
blouse that was open to show a white, fitted T-shirt that stopped
at the top of her white, flowing skirt, which rested just above her
knees. She carried a Botanical Gardens tote bag on one shoulder and
a digital camera rested in her hands.

“
I didn’t know I would have
to do a photo shoot,” he teased, stepping back so that she could
pass through into the foyer. “Where should we began? The living
room? The hot tub?”

“
It’s for pictures of your
backyard,” she stated almost too seriously, as if she didn’t get
the joke.

“
Right. I was just
kidding.”

“
Oh,” she said, turning
away from him and glancing around his home. “Which way to the
backyard?”

He slid the heavy tote bag from her
shoulder and pointed toward the kitchen. “I’ll carry this for you,
and we can go that way.” After handing her a bottled water, he
guided them through the kitchen and the adjoining great room to one
of three sets of French doors that led out to the
veranda.

“
Thank you.” She took a
swig of the water as she strolled in front of him. “Wow. This is
absolutely breathtaking.”

“
It’s just green
grass.”

“
To you its green grass,
but to me it’s a blank canvas. I can do so many things out here.
What is this … about one-half of an acre?”

“
You’re
correct.”

“
Well, what would you like
to see when you come home from a long day after listening to
everyone’s problems? What do you want to hear? What do you want to
smell?”

You in sexy lingerie
moaning my name while the scent of candles fill the air.

He cleared his throat for his thoughts
had clouded his brain. “Something peaceful and tranquil. I don’t
have any trees, and therefore no birds, but that would be nice. I
also enjoy light fragrances, sort of like the perfume you’re
wearing now. What’s it called?”

Turning away from him, she fumbled
with the lens cover on her camera. “Actually, it’s an oil that I
made with rose petals and some other flowers.”

“
Perfect. That’s what I
want. A bunch of beautiful flowers that smell just as wonderful as
you, or as close as possible because frankly you smell good enough
to eat.”

The camera slipped from her hands, and
he reached out to grab it before it landed on the tiled floor.
“That was close,” he said, looping it around her neck. The strap
wasn’t that long as the camera rested on top of her bountiful
breasts, and he jerked his hand back when it almost brushed against
the perky mounds.

Traci giggled nervously, running her
fingers through her hair. “Yeah, thanks. I’m a klutz sometimes.”
She turned away from him, but not before he caught a glimpse of her
rosy cheeks.

“
Okay, so definitely some
roses,” she confirmed. “Perhaps a mixture of colors and
types.”

“
Types? Aren’t all roses
the same?” He knew they weren’t, but it wasn’t something he’d
actually thought about.

She rotated toward him with a peculiar
expression. “No. There’s hundreds. Tea roses, antique roses, Knock
Outs … I won’t plant any of those for they don’t have a scent, but
they’re very easy maintenance so maybe a few.” Her nose wrinkled
over her pursed lips. “So, you really didn’t know there were
different types of roses? I’m sure you’ve ordered bouquets for your
… lady friends.”

At first he was a little taken aback
by her question for he felt his intelligence was being questioned.
Sure he’d ordered flowers before for women, but never roses. He
associated love with roses and never wanted any woman to get the
wrong idea.

“
I usually give them
whatever their favorite flower is.” He shrugged, walking out on to
the freshly mowed lawn as Traci followed. “I can honestly say
besides my mother, I’ve never given a woman roses.” He paused,
maybe hesitated for a moment because he didn’t care to admit that
he was curious as to what was her favorite flower. Considering she
was a horticulturist she probably had many. Though the truth was,
he wanted to know more about her including the little things.
Especially the little ones.